Apple patent application describes iWatch… slap bracelets?

Time to combine wearable devices with technology from the '80s and '90s.

Remember slap bracelets? Remember how they could become deadly flesh-slicing machines if you removed the outer layer? Apple may be planning for the so-called "iWatch" to sport similar properties—hopefully without the flesh-slicing. A recently published patent application, discovered by AppleInsider and Patently Apple, shows that Apple has put some serious thought into the design of a wearable device—this one in particular resembling the slap bracelets that children of the late '80s came to know and love.

The patent describes a device with a flexible, multitouch display that can display things like text messages or other notifications. This largely matches the basic functionality described in recent iWatch rumors, though the patent goes a step further to describe a possible solar panel underneath the display for power, as well as a "kinetic energy gathering component, wherein the battery can be trickle charged."

Some observers thought Apple might simply build upon the iPod-nano-as-a-watch concept from 2011, but the slap bracelet concept from this patent application is what has people buzzing Thursday morning.

"The most recent widespread use of such a device was the slap bracelet, also called the slap wrap. The slap bracelet consists of layered flexible steel bands sealed within a fabric cover," wrote Apple. "Typical slap bracelets are roughly one inch in width by nine inches in length. In a first equilibrium position they can be flat. The second equilibrium is typically reached by slapping the flat embodiment across the wrist, at which point the bracelet curls around the wrist and stays relatively secure in a roughly circular position."

We can only imagine the build quality and durability that must be taken into account if Apple wants to actually manufacture a device that can be slapped—or at least gently flexed—onto the wrist repeatedly every day. It's important to remember, though, that Apple patents rarely end up becoming reality—at least not in their patent-described form. Then again, one recent iWatch rumor claimed there were multiple wearable experiments going on at Apple, so it's possible there could be several iterations of the same concept being developed.